An atypical concentration or presence of substances in body fluids or in body lumens may be indicative of the biological condition of the body. For example, the presence of elevated concentrations of red blood cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract may indicate different pathologies, depending on the location of the bleeding along the GI tract. Similarly, abnormalities in physical conditions of the body, e.g., elevated temperature, may indicate a pathology. Early detection, identification and location of abnormal conditions may aid in correctly diagnosing and treating various pathologies.
Medical detection kits may be based on in-vitro testing of body fluid samples for the presence of a suspected substance. The in-vitro method of detection may not easily allow localization or identification of the origin of an abnormally occurring substance. In some instances, localizing an abnormally occurring substance in a body may contribute to the identification of a pathology, and thus may contribute to the facile treatment of the identified pathology. For example, bleeding in the stomach may indicate an ulcer, whereas bleeding in the small intestine may indicate the presence of a tumor.
In some cases, diseases, e.g., cancer, may be detected by analyzing the blood stream for tumor specific markers, for example, specific antibodies. A drawback of this method is that the appearance of antibodies in the blood stream may usually occur at a late stage of the disease, such that early detection is not possible using this method.
Detection of pathologies in the GI tract may be performed using endoscopy, but this method may be limited to the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract. Thus, pathologies in other parts of the GI tract, such as the small intestine, may not be easily detected using endoscopy.